Dead of Night

Chapter One

Pulling myself together proves to be harder than I thought.

Everywhere I look there are memories of her. It's impossible to escape her, so I stop trying. As I climb the stairs to Thanatos' tower, I must that I must be a masochist. Why else would I surround myself with memories of her and torment myself so?

Because you love her, my mind whispers. Of course I do. How could I not? Her eyes shine like the brightest of stars that roil in her joy and freeze in her fury. Her hair is a midnight ocean that falls over her soft shoulders like a dark waterfall. Her lips like the galexy's edge whisper promises of dark devotion. Her hands of velvet caress the sins from my lips in my darkest hour and her glorious body dances in the soft light of dawn. Her voice of soft, sweet surrender both ends my delirium and begins a pandemonium within me. Her soul is of such beauty that it can save even the darkest of man. Her grace shines through the darkest of nights. She is my angel in Hell.

I fell in love with her the moment I laid eyes on her. The soft, deadly creature has held my heart and soul in her hands ever since. She is my whole world.

As much as I hate Bel, I can't blame him for loving her. I know that he loved her but that loved morphed into an ugly, destructive obsession. He's hurt her and for that, he must die.

Lost in my thoughts, I absentmindedly trail my fingers over the love seat cushion, a place Thanatos had sat for countless hours over the years. I retract my hand slowly, heart aching, and walk to the window. Bracing my hands on the windowsill, I rest my forehead against the cool glass.

The stinging smell of smoke burns my nostrils. For some strange reason, flames dance behind my eyelids, writing and destructive. I know the Underworld is a desert but I doubt it's burning. There are no fire deities here, unless . . .

"Arawn, long time no see."

I tense, fury building within me. How dare he come here, to my realm? Slowly, I turn to face the turned god with my rage rolling off me in waves.

Bel stands in a circle of orange flames. The fire licks his legs just as Thanatos' darkness does to her. The comparison makes me want to rip my eyes out. The Cheshire cat smile that spreads across Bel's face makes me want to rip his eyes out. 

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," I growl with murder in my eyes. It takes every bit of strength within me not to rip his heart out with my bare hand.

That damnable smile of his widen and the flames in his eyes darken considerably. He cocks his head to the side, "if you kill me, my friends have orders to kill your little demigod, Amora, isn't it? I doubt our dear Thanatos would be too happy if you got her friend killed, don't you think?"

I clench my fists, enraged by his taunts. Bel is nothing but scum but he's right. Thanatos would never forgive me if I let her friend die. My revenge will have to wait.

"If you're here to taunt me, you're wasting your time."

Bel's Cheshire cat smile returns. Taking his sweet time, he strolls over to Thanatos' love seat and sits in her seat. He lounges in his spot as if he owns the place. My teeth grind together angrily and I can see how pleased my anger makes him. I swallow the emotion and put up a calm facade.

"I'm not here to taunt you, Arawn, rather out of curiosity," Bel says as he lazily ignites a small flame on the tip of his finger. The small light iluminates his face, somehow managing to create an even more unstable air to him.

I fold my arms across my chest, as I lean back against a wall on the opposite side of the room.I raise an eyebrow at the dark god. "And what would make you so curious that you'd dare come here and tempt fate?"

Bel's smile is bitter. "I am curious about just what about you made Thanatos lose herself and fall for you."

He risked his life just to find out why Thanatos loves me? Is he really that insane or is he just that obsessed with her? Of course, obsession demands at least a little insanity.

I shake my head. The answer he seeks is known only by Thanatos herself. I know only why I love her not why she loves me and I dare not question it. Losing her would destroy me.

"All you need to know is that she does love me and she loathes you. Whatever shred of friendship she had for you died when you murdered her human family. Her hate grew with every death you caused. the humans, Nyx, Erebus, Crescendo, Cupid, Wade. She stopped hoping that you'd see the error in your ways and started planning your death. I hope you had fun while it lasted, Bel, because your time is coming and it's coming soon," I threaten, letting every drop of malice and hatred seep into my voice.

I watch in satisfaction as Bel's cool facade cracks and his utter outrage begins to seep through. In a flash, he's standing before me, his eyes wild with fire. The stinging, smokey smell of him increases tenfold until it's nearly unbearable. Fire erupts around us, reacting to the god's fury.

"And I hope that you had fun with her while you had the chance because soon, Thanatos will be my goddess and I her Warrior. And you will spend the rest of eternity watching as I rip everything that you love out of your life. You will lay awake haunted by the knowledge that, when she cries out in the middle of the night, she'll be screaming my name."

With that last, venomous threat, the god of fire disappears into a whirlwind of flame and fury.